Turmoil ahead.

• Author: Lapavitsas, Costas
• Position: GREECE

In May 2011 mass action took place across the main squares of Greek towns. The movement of Aganaktismenoi ("The Outraged") occupied Syntagma Square in Athens, the political heart of the country. Greece had erupted almost exactly a year after the government had put in place the first economic "rescue" program. The promised gains had not arrived, and things were going from bad to worse.

The movement was colorful and energetic, but also extremely suspicious of political organizations, decrying all politicians as liars and crooks. The Aganaktismenoi advocated "real democracy." They denounced the unfairness of capitalism, the corruption of politics, the malfunctioning of society. Discussion groups sprang up on economics, political change, the climate, gender issues--anything and everything.

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The Aganaktismenoi laid claim to public squares, asserting civic power, embracing social togetherness, and overcoming, at least momentarily, the fragmentation of daily life. They demanded a new politics to express popular will, genuinely independent of mainstream political parties and their links with big business.

But the movement was also disparate, fractious, resistant to organization, dismissive of political theory. Syntagma was split into the "upper square," where angry and even nationalistic Greeks gathered to denounce corrupt politicians, and the "lower square," where the air was more rarefied and inquisitive, but still suspicious of political attachment. In the end, both parts of the square failed to give birth to new forms of political practice.

In June, hundreds of thousands converged on Syntagma to protest against yet more austerity. The normal response of the Greek government during the past three decades would have been to negotiate, cut sharp corners, find a compromise. This time, the government simply ignored the democratic expression of popular will and tried to sit out the storm. When August came, attendance at Syntagma declined, and the movement of the Aganaktismenoi faded.

And yet, mass action across the squares has radicalized a society sinking ever deeper into crisis. Popular unrest reemerged in late September, but it has a sullen and determined aspect, quite different from the gatherings of the Aganaktismenoi. Unrest is now led by working people mobilized by their grassroots organizations. Trade unions, professional bodies, and small business associations are demanding the withdrawal of austerity measures. This...